


Brothers

by orphan_account



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Children, F/M, Feelings, Kid!Fic, Promises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-16
Updated: 2011-07-16
Packaged: 2017-10-21 10:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/224408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robb wants Jon to swear that they are brothers, and Jon still doesn't feel as if he can be one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brothers

His father’s worried pacing is making Jon more nervous then he already is. Robb is tapping steadily on the window pane, but he just sits very, very still and stares at the closed door down the hall.

“Mama’s going to be all right, isn’t she?” Robb’s nervous voice breaks through the silence.

There’s a horribly long moment where Ned doesn’t say anything, but then the door crashes open and a woman comes out, smiling and breathing hard. “Lord Stark,” she announces. “You have a new daughter.”

“I have a sister,” Robb says, like he’s never heard of anything like it. Jon doesn’t say anything, but he follows Robb down the hall into Catelyn’s room.

Her red hair is strewn everywhere and her breathing is laboured, but her whole face lights up in a way that Jon Snow has never, ever seen. “Ned!” she cries, and the pink faced bundle in her arms _moves._

“Sansa,” his father says. “This is Sansa.” Robb is standing on tip-toe to look over his father’s arms as Ned crouches down beside the bed. “My perfect little lady.”

“She’ll be a fighter, she will,” Catelyn coughs, handing the bundle over to father.

“I reckon the babe will look like you, Lady Stark,” another woman offers.

“Then she’ll be a fighter,” Ned says, and Robb laughs.

Jon is still standing in the doorway, not sure of whether to come into the room, because he may only be four but he understands that this new baby girl is a _Stark_ and he is a _Snow_ and he’s not sure if he’s allowed.

“Jon,” Robb whispers. “Come see, she’s yawning!” Jon wanders over, and the little girl is yawning, a bundle of pink skin and wrinkles and she’s the ugliest and most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

“Hello, Sansa,” he says quietly, looking to Catelyn to make sure that he’s allowed.

“Why don’t you boys run along,” the woman suggests, as Catelyn’s eyes flash in his direction. “Let the Lord and Lady Stark have some time together, that’s a good lad.”

"Sister’s are special,” Jon tells Robb once they’ve fled to the Godswood, and are scuffing their feet on the frozen surface of the pond. “You have to _protect_ them.”

Robb’s face scrunches up, thinking. “Then you have to protect Sansa too, Jon. She’s your sister.”

Jon shakes his head. “She’s a Stark,” he says, like Robb is slow. “And I’m a Snow.”

“Well you’re _my_ brother so that makes her your sister, and you better protect her, Jon Snow.”

“Fine, fine,” he cries. “I’ll help you protect………..Sansa.” The name is still strange on his tongue.

“Swear it,” Robb commands, crossing his arms over his chest. “Swear it.”

“Robb,” Jon complains.

"I am the heir of Winterfell, and I want you to swear it,” Robb says, staring at Jon resolutely.

“Fine, I’ll swear it.”

Robb holds out his hand. “Promise, brother?”

Jon smiles, and takes his brother’s hand. “Promise.”

He forgets that moment until years and years later, when Robb is the King of the North and he’s a brother of the Night’s Watch. A raven arrives from King’s Landing, in Robb’s scrawling black handwriting. _The Lannister’s have Sansa,_ he writes.

It's only then does he remember his promise, and by that time it's too late. 


End file.
